Star Wars companion short Black Angel to get remade as a feature film

BLACK ANGEL, the short fantasy movie commissioned by George Lucas that screened in select locales before THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK during its theatrical run, is being remade as a feature length film. The 25-minute short was recently uploaded to YouTube, but was considered to be lost until it surfaced a few years ago.

Original director (and one of the people who helped design the first lightsaber)Roger Christian will be behind the camera for the project, and filming is expected to begin later this year. Christian says the budget will be "around $15 million," and while most of the funding has been secured, an Indiegogo campaign has been launched for the planned movie to help cover other costs, like concept art and set design.

Think Game of Thrones meets Valhalla Rising, Excalibur meets Lord of the Rings. A powerful tale of ancient Celtic magic and Nordic Paganism, it’ll be gritty, dirty and heroic – everything great fantasy should be. The story follows a knight as he journeys deep into the dark underworld with the daughter of a rival king, to meet the face of evil itself and fight the Black Angel in combat. Full of drama, action and heroism, pure light is pitted against eternal darkness and damnation.

In making this film, we want to return to the visceral physical action of classic fantasy films, like Conan the Barbarian and the original Star Wars. We will mainly rely on practical effects to bring the world of Black Angel to life, with CGI integrated into the film only when absolutely required.

The full cast for BLACK ANGEL hasn't been announced yet, but it will star Rutger Hauer as High Priest Sirdar, John Rhys-Davies as King Aelous and Laura Weissbecker (CHINESE ZODIAC) as Kyna, a warrior princess. Are you going to chip in a buck or two (or two thousand for the Demon Slayer sword prop perk) towards BLACK ANGEL?